Genesis 17, after Abraham pleaded
with the Lord concerning Ishmael, the Lord answered him and said
in verse 19, God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son
indeed, and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will establish
my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and whip his seed after
him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard
that. Behold, I have blessed him and
will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve
princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. My covenant will I establish
with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time
in the next year." And he left off talking with Abraham, and
God went up from Abraham. God says, I have heard you concerning
Ishmael, and I have blessed him. what mercy that was for Abraham. You know, often we call upon
the Lord and it is just a comfort to know that He hears us. We
need to know that He's hearing us. Our Lord said that, if you
ask anything in My name, the Father heareth you. And He does. He doesn't always give us what
we ask for, but that's good too, isn't it? He knows best. He said, I've heard you, and
I have blessed him, and he shall do this and be that way. But,
he said, my covenant, my covenant, he said, is with Isaac. My covenant. All the covenant blessings of
mine are reserved for Isaac and his seed, and his sons, that
is. God said, now this is vital,
this whole message. is about God's children of promise
and why they are His children. God said, Isaac is the son I
promised you, Abraham. You produced Ishmael. I am going to give you a son.
Isaac is the son God gave to Abraham through Sarah. Isaac
is the miracle son who are born of God and are a miracle, not
Israel. Isaac is the heir of all things. And all those who in Isaac come
from Isaac are joint heirs with Isaac. Isaac is the chosen seed. Isaac is the blessed son. Isaac
is the miracle son. Isaac is the son of promise in
whom all are chosen, all are blessed, all are called the sons
of God. Now, do I need to tell you what
this is about? They are they, truly. They are
they which testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is all about
Him. It says there in verse 22, I like this, it says the Lord
left off talking with him. In other words, there's no more
to say. This is it. It's all I've got to say to you.
concerning the Son. Final words on this subject.
No argument. This is the one. That's the one
I blessed. And everybody will be blessed
in Him. That's all I've got to say. And he went up. God went up. How blessed we are
that we know these things. Genesis 17 is where we are. Genesis
17. That these things testify of
Christ, the only begotten Son. The well-beloved Son. The Son of promise. God's choice,
the miracle son, the heir of all things, the blessed man in
whom all the people of God are chosen, accepted, blessed and
called sons of God because of the firstborn among many brethren. All right, go over to Romans
9. Romans chapter 9 deals with this subject, with this text.
Paul later on tells us the meaning of this text in Genesis 17. Romans chapter 9. And back here, you know, we often
talk about the law of first mention, you know, when the Lord first
says something, mentions something, like faith. Remember, Abraham
believed God. And then righteousness. Righteousness
was imputed to him. Whatever, all the counsel, the
will of God, the salvation of God, the purpose of God is really
found in the book of Genesis. All found there. When God first
mentions it, he's the author and the finisher of the faith.
And what he says in the beginning is laying the groundwork, is
laying the foundation for everything afterward. It will all be built
on that. Okay? And what the Lord is speaking
of to Abraham here and to us, these things are written for
our learning, is the eternal purpose of God according to election. That's what it's all about. God's
sovereign election of a people. God's covenant of mercy in electing
grace, and it's in Jesus Christ. He's the Chosen One, and all
are chosen in Him. And I heard you preach on this
not long ago, that if you're going to talk about election,
you've got to start with Christ, because He's the elect. Like
Isaiah 42, Behold, my servant, mine elect. It all began with
Him, to the praise of the glory of the Son of God. And it's all ordered in all things
and sure. This is the foundation Paul wrote
about, the foundation of God, the foundation of the truth,
the foundation of our salvation. It all stands right here. It
all depends on this, and it stands assured, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. Why? Because he chose them. And if
chosen of God and put in Christ the cleft of the rock, the chosen
one, if given to him in that covenant of grace before the
world began to say, given to him, your salvation is sure. It's ordered in all things and
it's sure. Why? Because you've got a surety
of an everlasting covenant. All right? Because he chose these
people in Christ before the world began, gave them to Christ. Christ
is that surety. And like God said of Abraham,
Sarah, and Isaac, I have chosen my Son. I have chosen Him. I
have blessed Him. My covenant shall stand. A virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and His name shall be called
Savior. And He shall save His people
from their sin. I have blessed Him. And they
will all come forth from him, and yea, they will be blessed. That's the covenant in a nutshell. At a set time, the Lord says,
set time. The fullness of time. Alright,
Romans 9. Let's look at that. Romans 9.
Let's just go down through here. Verse 1. I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. My conscience also
bear me witness. in the Holy Ghost, that I have
great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could
wish that myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving
of the law, and the service of God, and the promise, who are
the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is
over all, God, blessed forever. Amen. Why did I read all that? Well, because that's the way
the Lord wrote this. He wrote Romans 9 with these words to
begin before speaking of this covenant or God's sovereign election. And there's a lesson for us to
learn here. Paul said, I have great heaviness and sorrow, great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for my my brethren,
my kinsmen. The Lord used Paul greatly to
the conversion of many, to the salvation of many. The truth
is what the Lord uses. Uncompromised. And Paul preached
the truth, didn't he? The truth of God. The truth of
His sovereignty, His electing grace. And he did that in love. He spoke the truth in love. And I need this. I need to learn
this. Because I have taken Romans 9 and like a sword wanted to
cut people's head off with it. I have taken Romans 9 and used it like in spite to prove
something. That's not how Paul wrote it.
That's not how the Lord had him write that. That's not the attitude
that we're to have in speaking the truth to people. He said,
speaking the truth in love. He had a burden for his brethren.
He did not compromise the truth. He loved his brethren. He loved
his neighbors. He really did. He was concerned
for them. He had a burden for their souls. And because of that, he told
them the truth. But he did it in love. He did
it with a gentle spirit and attitude. The disciples one time, you remember,
they wanted to call down fire from heaven on these false preachers
and all that. And the Lord said, that's the
wrong attitude. You know what manner of spirit you are. He
said, I didn't come to destroy. I came to save. And that should
be our prayer, our heart's desire and prayer to God, for Israel,
or for whoever, is that they might be saved. Not just to prove
sovereignty, but that they might believe it. Dad used to say this. He said, we need to preach expecting
people to believe it. They ought to believe it. It's
God's Word. We ought to preach in such a way, in such a positive
way, expecting them. You ain't going to believe this. Now, as you said, these are Jews,
these are Israelites, the fathers of whom concerning the flesh
Christ came. I don't know what God is going
to do with Israel. No one really knows. Romans 11
speaks something about it, but it's still difficult. I've heard
men debate these things for years. I personally don't see anything
in Scripture that indicates there's going to be a great revival at
one time the Jews, I do think the Lord has revealed himself
to at least 144,000 over the years out of every tribe. But as far as the end, when it
all ends, a wide outpouring, a revival upon the Jews over
there right before Christ comes, I don't see that in Scripture. I don't know. I just don't know.
The fullness of the Gentile, I don't know. But we need to
pray for them. We need to pray. Scripture says
pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I know that speaking of the church.
The church is the new Jerusalem. The church, God's people, is
Israel. Spiritual Israel. We do pray for our brethren.
We do. But we need to pray for Israel. Pray for the Jews. as
well as the Gentiles, as well as all men. Didn't Paul say that
to young Timothy? Pray for all men, for God will
have all men to be saved, all types of men, all people out
of every tribe, kindred. Pray for them. Pray for them. Pray for them that despitefully
use you. That's what our Lord did, didn't He? On the cross,
that's what Paul did here. And so before he is going to
tell this truth of God's sovereign election of a people, he says,
I have a burden that these people believe the truth. And this is how Paul could be
so, and I'm dealing with this in depth because I need this
worse than anybody in here. I have a tendency to get mad
at these Arminians, especially preachers. And I understand that
after a while, some fellows do appear to be reprobate. And as
David said, I count them my enemies. They're butchering souls. And
I would that fire falls on some of these false prophets. I really
do. Like Elijah, they called down fire on a false prophet.
But until it's perfectly discerned and understood, the Lord's not
going to save that man or that woman. He said in Jude, if some
make a difference, pull it out of the fire. Until we absolutely
discerned that they're dogs and swine, we didn't pray for them. Because the Lord, every preacher
I know, nearly every preacher I know, was saved out of false
religion. Brother Don Bell was a wild, pew-jumping, Pentecostal
preacher. And Dad was a rank. Arminian. We always use that term rank.
Because something smells when it's ranked. And Arminian is
a stench in the nostrils of God and His people. But that's the
way he was. And so many others. How could Paul be so patient?
How could he be so long-suffering with these self-righteous Jews? Because he was one. And to whom
much is forgiven, he will love much. He considered his own self
what he was when God revealed himself to him, where he came
from, the pit from which he was digged. And that's our problem
often. That's the only reason self-righteousness
would ever come up. We've forgotten the pit from
which we dig. The only reason we can get mad at people that
are ignorant or blind is we've forgotten that we were ignorant
and blind, and still are to a great extent. So we preach, we testify
without compromise, without apology, and boldly and dogmatically the
truth of God's sovereign election. But we need to adorn that doctrine
with love and concern. Alright, so Paul says in verse
6, I have a burden for them, they don't believe it, but it's
not as though the Word of God had taken none effect, for they're
not all Israel that are of Israel. Just because they're a Jew doesn't
make them God's people. No. That never was true. They were a national people,
a symbol of God's sovereignty, but just because they were all
born sons of Abraham, Isaac, or even Jacob. The sons of Jacob
doesn't make them the sons of Jacob. Because God's people are
a spiritual people. They are chosen people in Christ. That's what he's going to go
on to talk about. Verse 7 and 8. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they that are children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. That plainly
tells us, doesn't it, that all men and women are not the children
of God, that God is not the Father of all people. He's not. Doesn't
that plainly say that? Children of the flesh. Paul,
over in Acts 17, I believe it was, at Mars Hill, he was quoting
the philosophers and poets when he said we're the offspring of
God. That's what they said. That's what these poets say,
we're all the offspring of God. So Paul quoted them and said,
well, if we are, then God's not an inanimate idol, is he? So he called their hand on that.
But no, all men, people of the flesh, sons, I mean, all the
human beings are not the sons of God. We're sons of God by
adoption. We're sons of God by birth. were
sons of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how. That's
how. Verse 8. The children of the
promise are counted for the sin. Promise? Promise to who? All that the Father giveth me,
Christ said, shall come unto me. Now him that cometh to me,
I will no wise cast out. God promised. Christ asked me,
he said, and I'll give you the heathen for your possession.
So Christ did. I will that those that thou hast
given me be with me where I am." He promised him a seed, a people. That's what Isaiah 53 says. A seed, a people. So these are
the children of the promise, the promise of God in Jesus Christ. Children of the flesh. Now, you
know these verses, but maybe everyone doesn't. John 1. John
chapter 1. But over there in John chapter
1, I often quote these, but maybe somebody doesn't know where it's
found and they need to. You need to. You need to know
where these verses are so that you can be ready to give an answer
to every man that asks you a reason. And look at John 1. It says in
verse 12, verse 11, "...he came unto his own, and his own received
him not." Who's that? He was born a Jew. Christ was
a Jew. And that's by purpose in the Son of David. They received him not. But as
many as received him, to them gave he power, or the right,
the privilege, to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name. They're the sons of God. That's
it. By faith and Christ. That's who they are. As many
as received him. Well, why did they receive him?
Why did they receive him? They believed him. They believed
who he was. Well, John said it in chapter
3. He said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him
from above. Faith is not of yourself. It's
a gift of God. So read on. In verse 13, it says,
As many as received him were born, not of blood, not because
they were a Jew, not because they were born a Baptist. in
a good church-going family, that they're just going to grow. You
know, some of the old preachers like John Knox and Calvin and
so forth that believe in covenant, that's sprinkling the babies
like it was some kind of covenant, like circumcision. Some of you
who have read these things know that they thought if they bring
their children and have them sprinkled, it's like circumcision. consecrating them to the Lord,
and the Lord would include them. And that's not it. How could they be so ignorant?
Well, they weren't. They weren't. Anyway, not of
blood, not born in a family and so born into the Kingdom of God.
Nor the will of the flesh. People talk about free will. There's really no such thing.
Free will, our will is bound, is captive to our sinful nature. We will not have this man reign
over us. We will not come to Christ. Christ said that. You will not
come. But God's people shall be willing. When? In the day
of his power. It is God that worketh in us
both the will. So he says, not of the will of
the flesh, It's not of the will of man. No man. Our parents can't
will a sin, can't pray a sin. We don't make a decision. Read
on. Three words. But of God. They're born of God. Born again. Christ said you must
be born from above. Of God. Of His own will, James
wrote, of God's will, not ours, of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, the gospel. What could be clearer? It's clear
if you understand, but it's not clear if you're blind. And that's
what people are. They're just blind. But God hath
revealed them unto us and our children. All right, so go back
to Romans 9. Go back to that. So no one's
a child of God because they're a Jew, son of Abraham. They're
not God's people by the will of the flesh. Abraham and Sarah
got together and said, maybe this is what God meant for us
to do, produce a son. No, he didn't. And this is why this happened. along with the allegory of law
and grace that he deals with in Galatians 4. But they got
together and said, God said we're going to have a son, so we're
going to have to produce it. No. God's going to do it. It's going to be a miracle. And
what this says to preachers and churches, you know, you can't
produce new births. You don't go about in the strength
of the flesh to produce new births. God has to do it. It has to be
a miracle. So it's not going to be these people, these souls
won by us. No, no. Not of the will of the
flesh. Abraham and Sarah got together
to have a son, and they did it through an Egyptian woman. No,
no, no, no. of the will of the flesh, but
God's will, God's choice, God's decision, they are sons of God
by sovereign election. Look at verse 8. They which are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God,
but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. The children of the promise.
God promised Abraham A son will be born, the son of my choosing,
the son of my making, and him all will be blessed. My covenant
is with Isaac, and him all will be blessed." And John said of
the Lord Jesus Christ, John said then, the prophet John, he said,
"'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
his hand.' Isaiah said, "'Behold, mine elect.'" Paul said to the
saints in Christ, Blessed be God, according as He hath chosen
you in Christ, before the foundation of the world. Look at verse 10. Read along with me. Just read
down through here. And it's not only this. But when
Rebekah had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, in
other words, God chose Isaac over Ishmael, and most people
don't have a problem with that. professing Christians don't have
a problem with God choosing Isaac and not Ishmael, okay? But when
you start carrying that on, like he said here, look at this. Most
people don't like the rest of these verses. I do. God's people do. Not only this,
but when Rebecca had conceived by one, by our father Isaac,
for the children being not yet born. talking about Jacob and
Esau, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, it's not of worth. It's of him that calleth. It
was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. God
told Rebekah this before these children were born. The elder
shall serve the younger. And long before that, in the
book of Malachi, the Lord wrote this down. and said, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Not long before they were born,
but later on he said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
And God revealed that in that story of Jacob and Esau. But
that's what God said, didn't He? And I've heard so many take
that and say, well, it means God loved less. Loved less. Hate means hate. And you'd have
to be an awfully corrupt fellow to twist and pervert God's Word
like that. You're apologizing. You're ashamed
of the truth. You don't know God. God's the
one that said that. When He said that in the book
of Malachi, He said, I have laid His mountains, His heritage,
waste for the dragon. I hated Esau. Love less. It's the same word that Christ
said, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. Love less? No, He said they're going to
take you and they're going to kill you. Love less? No, it's hate. Men hate the truth. They hate
God. They hate God's right to be God. God's right to be God,
and the thing that makes Him God more than anything else is
His absolute sovereign right to do what He will with whom
He will, and none can stay His hand or say, What do us that?
You can't do that. No, that's what makes God God.
And, you know, that's what makes the sons of God the sons of God.
The men that love God, Romans 8, 28, to them that love God.
They love God's right to be God. All right, look at look at it
again, verse 11, it says before they were born that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stay. That there's the
key. It was said unto her, Rebecca, the elder shall serve it, the
younger, as it is written in Malachi 1, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Well, people are going to argue.
And here's their argument. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? It's not fair? God forbid. That's what people say. It's
not right. It's not fair. God shouldn't hate anyone. No,
you got it wrong. He got it all wrong. Our Lord,
God who is holy and will by no means clear the guilty. God who
looks down on the sons of men to see if there are any that
understand, any that seek after God. There's none righteous.
No, not one. There are haters of God, Romans
3. Haters of God. Romans 1. Despise God by nature. And we
all did. We all did. Here's the marvel. Here's the wonder. Is it what
God would love any of us? that God would set his love on
any of them. That's the marvel. That's the wonder. And all of
God's people, like Jacob, know that. Jacob said, I'm not worthy
of the least of thy favor, let alone you choosing me. I'm no
different than my brother Esau. You should have cast me out.
You should have rejected me. But God is rich in mercy. For his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we are dead in sin, hath quickened us
together with Christ, and by grace he saved us. Read on. There's no unrighteousness, but
he said to Moses, he said this a long time ago, I will have
mercy. That's the marvel, isn't it?
That God will have mercy. But it's sovereign mercy, you
see? Mercy, by definition, is sovereign. Mercy means you don't,
not getting what you deserve, not getting the wrath and the
punishment that you deserve, not getting the death that you
deserve. Now, if it's mercy, it's got
to be sovereign. It's up to the person showing
it, isn't it? You don't deserve mercy. If a person on death row,
you know, they're sentenced to die, if the President of the
United States, and he's the only one that can show pardon, unconditional
pardon, if he says so, they're pardoned. If he doesn't, they're
not. It's up to his sovereign will as the President of the
United States, and so is salvation. God says, I will have mercy.
That's the marvel. That's the wonder. And it's sovereign
mercy. It's on whom I will have mercy.
Right on. And I will have compassion. Oh, my. But it's on whom I will have
compassion. So then it's not of him that willeth. It's not of him that runneth.
You work real hard and then the Lord will show mercy on you.
Oh, Paul said, that's not so. I did. I ran. I ran harder than
anybody. I worked harder than anybody.
That's not it. I was ignorant. But it's of God
that shall have mercy. And down in verse 18, he says,
He hath mercy on whom he will, have mercy on whom he will, he
hardeneth. Now, God doesn't have to make
somebody not believe. That's a hard heart. A hard heart
is a heart that does not believe. But the hard man believes. God
doesn't have to make somebody hard hearted. We're born that
way. All right, how the heart is hardened. And he tells us
this. In Hebrews, many places, harden
not your hearts as in a day of provocation, how we harden our
hearts and how God hardens our heart is withholds a reign. We
harden our heart by being out from under it. You take yourself
out from under the sound of the gospel and your heart will get
hard. until the Lord, through the gospel, has to break it all
over again, like he did in the beginning. And all God has to
do to completely harden a person is leave them alone. Leave them
alone. And they're forever hardened.
They argued this in verse 19. Then why does he find fault? Who can resist his will? If it's
all according to his will, if God chose a people and elected
a people and only the elect will be saved, then what's the point
in preaching? What's the point in witnessing?
What's the point in all of this? How does Paul answer these arguments?
How does Paul answer these pot shards? He doesn't strive with
them. Or he don't. He just says in
verse 20, Who art thou? That replies against God. Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made
me thus? You can't do this. It's not right.
Hath not the potter piled the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel under honor and another under dishonor? What if God willing
to show his wrath to make his power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted, made up to destruction? Reprobation. and that he might
make known the riches of his glory. You see, the damnation
of souls of men and women is going to be to the praise of
the glory of God's holiness and God's justice. But the salvation of some of
these undeserving sinners in verse 23 is going to be to the
praise of the glory of his mercy and his grace, these vessels
of mercy that he prepared unto glory, that he chose, put in
Christ. Isaiah cried this concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
a sand to the sea, a remnant shall be saved. Romans 11. Verse 1, half God cast away his
people. God forbid. He said, I'm an Israelite. I'm a Jew. Seed of Abraham. Tribe
of Benjamin. So was Peter, James, John, Bartholomew,
Thaddeus, Jude, James. There were thousands, thousands
at Pentecost. And later, Jews. Jerusalem was
filled The church at Jerusalem, wasn't it? Full of people. Full
of people. Jews. No, he has not. Verse 2, God has not cast away
his people, which he foreknew. That is, his national people. Not what the Scripture said of
Elias. You know, Elijah said, when he made intercession to
God, he said, Lord, I'm the only one. Remember that? I'm the only
one. God said, no, no. Verse 4. God
answered him and said, I have reserved to myself. You see that? Who did this? God did this. Who chose who? God chose. Seven thousand that have not
bowed the knee to the image of Baal. You see, they all would
have bowed to Baal if God hadn't chosen them. And even so, Paul
said back then, at this present time, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. At this present time, 2,000 years
later, it looks like most people are barely in the need of Babylon. The church of the great whore,
Babylon, is the religion of our day. And all these false prophets,
idolatry. And I often, like Elijah, get
this, Lord, we're the only one. Oh, no. No, you're not. You may
think you are. But there's at least 7,000. A remnant, you see, there's a
remnant, verse 5, according to the election of grace. If it's
by grace, it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace,
you see. It's not works, it's grace. They're all saved by grace.
It's by grace to the end that it might be sure. See, all the
seed in it. If works, it's no more grace,
otherwise work is no more work. What then? Okay, what about it?
Israel hath not obtained that which she seeketh for, but who
has? The election hath obtained. The election. The election is
the language of Scripture in it. The language of Scripture. And our Lord spoke of that. Our Lord used the term election
quite often. Because it gives glory to God.
In calling someone God's elect, it gives all the glory to God.
As opposed to this false religion today that says this person made
his choice, accepted Jesus. Who's that giving the glory to?
I mean, really, who's getting the glory? Oh, he accepted Jesus. Well,
God's so proud of him. God's proud of his son. for accepting these worthless
ones and doing what he did. And so are we. So are we. We are ashamed of ourselves.
Glory in him. Glory in his sovereign election
of a people. Okay.